Last Minute Rally Gives La Salle Win Over UMass

La Salle managed to wipe away UMass's early three-goal lead once Davis netted her second goal of the afternoon before McDermott put the Explorers in front six minutes later.

Prior to half time, UMass refused to go into the intermission trailing. Nina Sarcona knotted the game at four a piece, which is how the game stood after the first 30 minutes.

The Minutewomen quickly went back on top after the teams returned for the second half, but the UMass-lead did not last long. Sophomore Rachel Baker (Montclair, N.J./ Montclair) picked up a ground ball to send the Explorers down the opposite end, where she found Davis, who set McDermott up with the equalizer.

From that point on, the Minutewomen went on to manufacture a three-goal scoring spree over the next 11 minutes. McKee cut it down to an 8-6 lead, but Jackie Lyons scored her third goal of the day to put UMass up 9-6, which did not hold up due to another late rally by the Explorers.

La Salle concludes the regular season with the highest overall winning percentage (.600) in the A-10 with a 9-6 record. The Explorers close out regular season conference play 5-2, marking their best finish in the 13-year history of the program.

“The opportunity to coach this team is awesome,” Taglianetti said. “With all the history making, it's great to see the program and the girls succeed. The rewards this season has brought all comes from a total team effort.”

“We know others are surprised by our success, but honestly we're not. We know we could do it if we executed our game plan and if everyone stayed on the same page.”

The Explorers return to Philadelphia, Pa. before traveling to Pittsburgh, Pa. for Friday's semifinal Atlantic 10 Championship game against the UMass Minutewomen at 3:30 p.m. on the campus Duquesne University.

The winner will play the victor of No. 1 seed Richmond versus No. 4 seed Temple, which is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start on Friday afternoon.